This forum is being held in the area
which is known today as Musgrave Park; a domain which has
been a traditional gathering place of Aboriginal people
for thousands of centuries. We are mindful of the
significance of this place and we acknowledge and pay
respect to the indigenous people who care for and love
this land so dearly. We make our presentation to this
forum in memory of the women who lived and died here.

We would like to begin with a poem in
Tagalog, Ang pagiging babae ay pamumuhay sa panahon ng
digma, and its English translation, To be a woman
is to live at a time of war, so you can hear the
beauty of one of the languages spoken in the Philippines,
and experience this ardent narrative of Filipino women’s
war against violence.

Ang pagiging babae ay pamumuhay sa
panahon ng digma, To be a woman is to live at a
time of war by Joi Barrios. [1]

We have also brought along two pieces
representative of the art of Filipino women’s weaving. One
piece is a tapis of Bontoc weave from the
Cordillera region in the north, the other, a malong
from Mindanao in southern Philippines. Two very different
pieces in style and design, they illustrate the cultural
diversity of the peoples of our country. They also
demonstrate adaptability because as well as being women’s
garments they are also used for carrying babies and goods,
wall decorations, coverlets and sleeping bag, etc.

You may be surprised to learn that
Filipinos speak many languages and dialects; 186 according
to one ethnolinguistic research. Some of the most widely
spoken languages are Cebuano, Ilocano, Tagalog, Bicol,
Hiligaynon, and Waray. The Philippines is comprised of
more than 7,000 islands shared by a wide diversity of
cultural communities who live in both upland and lowland
country; some also still preserve their traditional
maritime society living in boats on the sea. Outside the
urbanised areas, many communities have managed to keep
alive their traditional spiritual and social practices.

In the course of researching material
for this paper, two aspects stand out for comment:

One, is the vast amount of material
written by and about the situation of Filipino women at
home and abroad. This in no small part is due to the
development since the early 1980s of a vibrant, vocal and
distinctly Filipino feminist movement; a movement that for
twenty years has been drawing together the strands of
women’s concerns from across the diversity of Filipino
cultural communities.

The second, is that the violence
suffered by the majority of women throughout the world,
while having their own specific forms, is painfully
similar and oftentimes exactly the same.

Sharing our experiences, as we are
doing today, gives us hope for learning more about how to
put an end to the violence; we will internalise what we
learn today and draw those strands too into our
understanding; and we will not forget your stories while
we weave the fabric that dresses and decorates our women’s
network.

Isis International-Manila, is an NGO
that promotes networking, communication and cooperation
among women and groups working for women’s empowerment.
[2] In Changing Lenses, their recent publication on
women and media in ten countries across the Asia-Pacific
region, Isis confirms that in the Philippines violence
against women remains a deeply-rooted problem in society.

The 1995 fourth periodic report for
the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) showed
that from December 1992 to November 1995, "cases of
rape and other incidences of violence against women
have been increasing but only a small number of
offenders are apprehended and convicted." [3]

SIBOL [4], a legislative advocacy
formation of 12 women’s organizations in the Philippines
lists the forms of sexual violations against women:

The most common of these in the
Philippines are rape, incest, spouse or partner sexual
abuse, sexual harassment, prostitution, trafficking,
and pornography. [5]

In this paper we quote at length from
the book Women’s Health and the Law, an excellent
resource on legislation, policy and programs related to
women’s health in the Philippines which is written in
accessible language despite the necessity of legal
references. Women’s Health and the Law was prepared
and published in 1997 for SIBOL by the Women’s Legal
Bureau, Inc., (Philippines). The Women’s Legal Bureau is a
feminist legal resource NGO servicing women and women’s
organisations on matters involving gender-related issues.

Some of what we present here may seem
to be outside the scope of this forum’s topic of sexual
violence. In the context of the Philippines, however, it
would be an incomplete picture if we did not connect
sexual violence with the related issues of sexuality,
abortion, no divorce law, the double standard in marital
infidelity, the death penalty, migration, the world wide
web of exploitation, and the feminist movement’s response.

With such an abundance of material from
the Philippine women’s movement, academia and other
sectors, we have resorted to giving pointers to many
documents and there is included a bibliography of
resources. You can access all this material in the Centre
for Philippine Concerns (CPCA) Brisbane Branch library.
[6] There is also appended a list of addresses of some of
the women-friendly agencies in the Philippines.

In closing this introduction, we offer
you a few lines from the poem ‘To the young women
walking the path of feminism’ by Aida Santos. [7]

we begin to love each other
when we begin to make the connection
between your empowerment and my
disempowerment, we are sisters when we
recognize and touch each other's pains like
touching the glow of the moon when it seems
so distant and impossible, when we cry
because another woman cries, when we hold
a grieving sister even when we feel the depths
of our own wounding, when we laugh as the
tears dry laughing with the going of sorrows,
when we break our silences even when it is
difficult to find the words that will describe the
growing grief of loves lost and lost hopes...

CULTURAL CONTEXT

The cultural context within which
Filipino women have been defined is embedded in a
patriarchal system, as in other parts of the world. Gender
and female sexuality are defined by the dominant social
group (men) through a socialisation process mediated by
family and community, school, church and the media. In
practice, this has come to mean male dominance/female
subordination.

Traditionally, the husband is expected
to be the main breadwinner, chiefly responsible for the
financial sustenance of the family, and the wife is "queen
of the home". As she takes care of the budget and "holds
the purse strings" (the husband usually hands over his
monthly pay to the wife and gets a regular allowance from
her), she is seen as a power to reckon with in the family.

However, this often-repeated
incantation and the commonly held idea that today’s
Filipino family displays "matriarchal tendencies"
attributed to the power held by women before the Spanish
conquest, as well as the assertion that the position of
Filipino women improved as a result of American influence
during its occupation of the country, are now challenged
by the empirical studies of social scientists as some of
the "myths" surrounding the belief that Filipino women do
not need "liberation". [8]

Additionally, the traditional view of a
full-time Filipino mother and wife is also being
challenged by the necessity in contemporary Philippines
for women to seek paid work outside the home; even outside
the country. A common phenomenon is labor migration which
began in the early 1920s. The "brain drain" reached crisis
proportions in the late 1970s when the Marcos government
actually promoted the deployment of Filipinos for overseas
jobs to deflate unemployment and earn foreign exchange
from income remittances to offset the debt crisis. There
are now an estimated 7 million Filipinos working in 129
countries all over the world with the trend showing an
increased feminisation of migrant workers.

Women migrant workers are more
susceptible to maltreatment, physical and sexual abuse.
Most prone are the domestic helpers and those in the
entertainment trade. They have experienced humiliation,
abuse, torture and slavery. Many have returned home dead
or badly bruised or psychologically impaired. [9]

The earliest representations of
Filipino women that have survived the march of time were
written by Spanish chroniclers. Pre-colonial Filipinos, or
"indios" as we were called by the Spanish, wrote on
material like leaves and wood or even fragile rice paper.
Nevertheless, some ancient scripts did survive in remote
areas and are still used to this day.

In the almost total absence of history
written by pre-colonial inhabitants, the origins of the
Filipino peoples are preserved in oral traditions of myths
and legends. One legend tells the story of creation quite
differently from the Judeo-Christian biblical account. In
this version, woman and man emerged simultaneously from a
bamboo cylinder when a bird pecked at it. Another legend
has it that the first humans on earth came down from the
sky as adults, fully formed, comprising of men and women.
The egalitarian theme is once again evident. [10]

Mainstream history was almost always
written from a male perspective and the participation of
women in the life of the community was glossed over. A
joint study conducted by five Filipino women argues that:

Research done by women historians
has established the more egalitarian status of women
during the pre-Spanish period. Encarnacion Alzona
enumerates the following rights enjoyed by the
pre-Spanish Filipino woman: (1) to be treated as an
equal by her husband and to share his honors; (2) to
retain her maiden name; (3) to freely dispose of the
property she had brought into the marriage; (4) to be
consulted or informed by her husband about his
business affairs and contracts; (6) to divorce her
husband in case of non-support or maltreatment; and
(7) to assume the headship in the barangay. To
this list Mary John Mananzan adds: (1) to have a baby
or not, whether she is married or not; and (2) to name
her children. Moreover, women had an unquestioned
preferred role in religious ceremonies as
babaylanes or catalones (priestesses). [11]

This Filipino woman of strength and
power was transformed during the almost 400 years of
Spanish colonisation, as the social system itself was
transformed into a patriarchy. With values and cultural
expectations shaped under Spanish tutelage, the Filipina
became the "shy, diffident, puritanical, tearstained
little woman of the late nineteenth century" so well
immortalised in literature. (Carmen Guerrero Nakpil) [12]

It is asserted however that this "Maria
Clara" [13] type of Filipino woman was more typical among
the upper class. Rural women and women of the labouring
classes were not transformed completely and this is
attributed to the economic pressures and harsh conditions
in which they lived. [14]

For a more comprehensive account of the
evolution of the Filipino woman, see The Filipino Woman
1565-1973 by Encarnacion Alzona. [15]

The Philippines today is predominantly
Catholic, so personal and community values echo the
teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, which is
male-centred and male-dominated. The value placed on
virginity until marriage and sex only for procreation,
reflect the Catholic upbringing of most Filipinos, as do
the indissolubility of marriage and the belief that the
husband is head of the household with absolute authority
over his wife and children. The father’s word is law and
his behaviour cannot be questioned. All these values have
consequences for women who experience sexual assault and
domestic violence, for example, the reluctance to report
rape or incest and the tendency to stay in untenable
violent relationships even if their lives are at risk.
They also partly explain the fear, shame and guilt that
overwhelm victims of these crimes.

Sex is a taboo subject. The sensitive
parts of the body are not to be mentioned, and in fact
there are no specific words assigned to some of them, as
well as some sexual behaviours, so that it is not possible
to translate the English word equivalent. When talking
about sex, Filipinos use euphemisms instead.

In this context, the use of qualified
and skilled interpreters especially in the medical and
legal fields to communicate with women who are not
confident about their English, is critical in Australia.
In Queensland, this right is yet to be enshrined in law.
Until it is, women of language and cultural backgrounds
other than Anglo/Celtic-Australian are being denied a
basic human right. For service providers, it is imperative
that translated information in print should be
supplemented by interpreters to ensure effective
communication. The requirement for a qualified interpreter
where needed, at the appropriate level of skills, should
be part of service provision standards.

FILIPINO SEXUALITY

The Filipino concept of sexuality is
ambiguous, its meaning socially and personally defined by
the dominant cultural group and prescribed by social
expectations usually in terms of masculinity and
femininity. Consequently, as SIBOL argues:

The long tradition of women’s
cultural, economic and social subordination has
subjected them to sexual repression, effectively
denying control over their own bodies and, in many
cases, to sexual violence. [16]

Sexuality in the Philippines is
distinguished by a double standard that expects women to
remain virgins until marriage while men are allowed to
enjoy sexual freedom. This double standard is reflected in
the attitude towards wives who commit adultery (morally
unacceptable) while unfaithful husbands are condoned,
"they are men, after all…". Young women who lose their
virginity before marriage, whether through rape or in a
relationship, diminish their chances for a "good"
marriage, while young men can "sow wild oats" with abandon
and be even admired for being so "manly".

Young women feel pressured into early
marriages to legalize sexual relations or to avoid the
stigma of becoming "old maids". Young men, on the other
hand, are allowed to express their sexuality freely, and
are sometimes initiated by fathers who take their sons to
brothels for sexual intercourse with women. [17]

In the realm of the extended family,
the control of women’s sexuality aims to regulate
inheritance; as Atty. Evalyn Ursua argues, "to guard
against the introduction of illegitimate children into the
family." Philippine laws on adultery and concubinage
simply reflect society’s double standard in the treatment
of sexual infidelity. [18]

By making a distinction between
‘legitimate’ and ‘illegitimate’ children, between
‘legitimate’ and ‘illegitimate’ families, society
justifies treating ‘wives’ and ‘concubines’, and their
children, differently as far as property inheritance is
concerned. This differential treatment also influences how
‘illegitimate’ members of the family are treated and
‘used’ by the patriarch. (For a further discussion on this
issue see the section of this paper headed The Double
Standard In Marital Infidelity.)

Religion, specifically Roman
Catholicism, was introduced by the Spanish colonizers
to facilitate their rule over the local people,
especially to neutralize the influence of independent
women at that time.… Monogamous marriage and chastity
were inculcated alongside the institutionalization of
property ownership. The Filipino woman then became
subordinate to a male figure: her father before
marriage, her husband after marriage. [19]

For a discussion on cultural
prescriptions for women’s domesticity and status in the
context of cultural sexism, see "The Ideology of Female
Domesticity: Its Impact on the Status of Filipino Women"
by Carolyn Israel-Sobritchea. [20]

Filipino sexuality is conditioned by
many factors; by social institutions like school, church
and the mass media.

Mass media, especially movies,
television, and entertainment magazines, treat women
as sexual objects. Cyberspace technology has of late
been an added source of sexuality constructs as
pornography becomes popularly available to users. [21]

Through specific provisions in the
Constitution, even the State has a hand in defining
Filipino sexuality. Policies concretely link marriage, the
family and society: marriage is the foundation of the
family, and the family is the foundation of the nation.
The sexual act, by virtue of Church and State edicts,
should occur only in marriage for procreation. Sex for
sheer pleasure is morally unacceptable even as society has
a silent, tacit acceptance of sex outside marriage. The
debate over homosexuality, let alone same-sex marriages,
is scuttled by both Church and State. Sexuality,
therefore, despite the insistence of some quarters that it
is a purely private decision, has never been private.
Governing rules and institutions, official or traditional,
shape people’s consciousness of what is acceptable and
unacceptable, what is normal and what is deviant or
perverse. [22]

Homosexuality is not illegal in the
Philippines. However, only the Family Code [23]
specifically mentions homosexuality. SIBOL argues that
"The treatment of homosexuality and homosexuals in the
legal system may be described in three ways: (1)
homosexuality is an aberration; (2) homosexuals are
invisible; (3) homosexuals are denied rights granted to
heterosexuals." [24]

Marriage and family are heterosexual
units in the Family Code. Marriage between couples of the
same sex is thus not possible under Philippine law and
homosexual relationships are not included in the legal
concept of family. "Lesbianism or homosexuality" of one
party to the marriage is stated as grounds for legal
separation and for the annulment of marriage. [25]

Upon the severance of the marital union
either through legal separation or annulment, the
homosexual spouse is considered the guilty party and loses
her/his rights of inheritance from the other spouse, and
as well as any claim to the conjugal property, she/he may
also lose custody of the children. [26]

SIBOL sees the treatment of homosexuals
in law as a reflection of the homophobia pervasive in
social institutions and Philippine society in general. The
way homosexuals are treated under the legal system is a
clear violation of the constitutional mandates of "equal
protection of the law" and "equality before the law of
women and men." [27]

VAW [violence against women] occurs
because our social norms become ambiguous… VAW exists
because we refuse to face up to the roots of the
problem. We dismiss rape as an occasional crime, and
think the death penalty will eradicate it. It will
not, because our social norms continue to encourage
VAW. Think hard about it: even our norms about being a
‘gentleman’ may in fact contribute to VAW. The concept
of the ‘gentleman’ is actually very feudal. Chivalry
is expected of the Pinoy [28] ‘gentleman’ only under
certain conditions, meaning if the woman is loyal and
servile. In fact, even the prohibition on picking a
fight with a woman is partly based on the idea that
men are superior and should not stoop to the level of
women. And when a woman dares to talk ‘too much’, asks
‘too much’, then the ‘gentleman’ façade gives way to
stern machismo: she has to be put in her place,
through a beating if necessary. Is this too harsh an
indictment of Pinoy culture? I don’t think so. [29]

Increasingly, as the culture of silence
is broken, women are coming forward and reporting their
experiences of violation. Isis International makes the
observation that documented cases in the last five to ten
years show the extent of family violence with women
suffering in silence so as not to put the family to shame.[30]

Arugaan ng Kalakasan, a crisis
intervention agency based in Quezon City says that some of
the reasons women keep silent about their experience and
remain in violent relationships are: "shame, the hope that
the abusive partner will change, threats from or the moral
ascendancy of the abuser, lack of financial resources,
lack of support from relatives, concern for the children,
and social pressure to keep the family together." [31]

RAPE

On 30 September 1997, The Anti-Rape Law
(Republic Act No 8353) was signed amending the provisions
of the Revised Penal Code on rape. The law was enacted
after years of advocacy by women’s groups, particularly
SIBOL.

SIBOL points to the three significant
changes in the law on rape, as a result of the 1997
Anti-Rape Law, being:

(1) the broadening of the
definition of rape; (2) the recognition of marital
rape; and (3) the reclassification of rape as a crime
against persons from a crime against chastity. [32]

Rape is now defined broadly. The
previous definition of rape was limited to the penetration
by the penis of a woman’s vaginal orifice. SIBOL sees the
expanded definition as a immense improvement. Although,
having broadened the definition of rape to include acts
not traditionally considered rape, the law still makes a
distinction in the penalties to be imposed, and by
imposing lesser penalties, in effect deems them to be less
serious violations; penile penetration of the vagina is
punished heavily compared with the other acts of rape such
as penetration of the anus, for example.[33]

Rape is now classified as a crime
against persons and is therefore a public offence.
Previously, rape was classified as a crime against
chastity and a private offence. SIBOL argues however that,
"all sexual violations against women violate their person
and inflict irreparable injury not limited to the
physical. In classifying the sexual violations against
women as crimes against chastity, the law implies that the
women violated become unchaste or that only the chaste can
be violated." SIBOL further argues that the courts treat
these as crimes of lust or passion; conveniently excusing
the rampant violations of women. "There is nothing about
"lust" or "passion" in these crimes," says SIBOL, "these
are crimes of power and control by the dominant (men)
against the subordinated (women)." (See Part Four, Section
1 of Women’s Health and the Law for a thorough
description of "crimes against persons" and "crimes
against chastity", the difference in penalties imposed,
and the provision for pardon.) [34]

MARITAL RAPE

In this scheme of things, it is not at
all surprising that women can been viewed as sexual
objects for men. Traditionally, Filipino women accept that
part of their role in marriage is to satisfy the sexual
needs of their husbands, whether they like it or not. That
is why it is difficult for them to understand the concept
of rape in marriage, or to consider this behaviour as
criminal. Abuse and violence is often accepted as part of
married life.

The majority of the assailants of
abused women are their partners or spouses and, most
often, spousal beating is followed by marital rape. (Lyn
Lee 1992, ‘Perspectives on Domestic Violence’, KALAKASAN.)
[35]

The Anti-Rape Law of 1997 reversed the
view prevailing under the old law that except in cases of
legal separation, a husband may not be guilty of rape, no
matter how violent or violating the sexual act is to the
wife. Additionally, under the new law, both husband or
wife may be charged with rape.

INCEST

No law in the Philippines specifically
names, defines and penalizes incest. Incest cases are
prosecuted using any of a number of different crimes. [36]

Sexual abuse of female children by
their fathers and other male relatives is also on the
rise. Sexual abuse of young women is widespread. A recent
study on family violence revealed that 98% of the victims
are women. It also showed incest to comprise 33% of
violence committed against children. (Women in Development
Inter-Agency Committee Fourth Country Programme for
Children, University of the Philippines Center for Women’s
Studies Foundation, Inc., and U.N. International
Children’s Fund, Breaking the Silence, September
1996). [37]

THE DEATH PENALTY

The Philippines reintroduced the death
penalty in 1994 for specified "heinous crimes", which
includes the rape of children under the age of 18 within a
family. The first execution under this new law was carried
out in 1999 when a Filipino man was executed by lethal
injection for the rape of his 11-year-old stepdaughter.
[38]

The death penalty is also imposed for
the crime of rape under any of these other circumstances:
the offender knowingly infects the victim with HIV/AIDS or
any sexually transmissible disease; or knows the victim is
pregnant or has a mental disability, emotional disorder or
physical handicap; or knows the victim is in religious
vocation; if the victim suffers permanent physical
mutilation or disability; when the victim is in police or
military custody; if the rape is committed in full view of
the victim’s family; and, when the victim is a child below
seven years old.[39]

MILITARY SEXUAL VIOLENCE

In the early 1990s women began to speak
out and demand compensation for the war crimes of
"military sexual slavery" during the Second World War. It
is estimated that "200,000 women aged between 11 and 20
years from all over Asia were officially reduced to sexual
slavery and were requested to have intercourse with 10 to
40 soldiers per day; only 30% of these women survived to
the end of the war." [40]

Lourdes Sajor of ASCENT, an
organisation that has worked on the issue of Filipino
"comfort women" since 1992 argues that "The violence of
the culture of war, and the use of rape as a weapon of
war, has its roots in patriarchal systems." In the case of
the "Asian Comfort Women" of the Japanese Imperial Army
during World War II, "the government itself systematically
planned, ordered, conscripted, established and controlled
the army brothels, and forcibly abducted the women from
the occupied territories and countries using the entire
army apparatus." [41]

Maria Rosa Henson broke
half-a-century’s silence when in 1992 she spoke out
publicly about her ordeal as a "comfort woman" in a World
War II rape camp. She was 14 when she was raped by three
Japanese soldiers in 1942. Two years after, while active
in the resistance movement, she was captured again and
used as a "comfort woman" for nine harrowing months until
she was rescued. She died in 1997, a year after her
autobiography was published. [42]

Felicidad de Los Reyes was abducted
from school by Japanese soldiers in 1943 when she was only
14 years old. She was continually beaten and raped for
four days. She survived her experience unlike her older
sister who died in a "comfort station". [43]

Homosexuals were also used by the
Japanese military in this way. Walter Dempster Jr. was
working in Manila nightclubs as a cross-dressing
entertainer during the war. While out walking one night
dressed in women’s clothes, Walter and his friends were
taken to military headquarters where they were raped at
least three times every day. [44]

During the Marcos regime, many women
students and members of resistance groups were raped,
tortured and died in military custody. [45]

"Rape continues to be a strategy of
armed conflict in the Philippines because it affects a
woman’s husband and children and the entire community to
learn she has been violated," explained Indai Lourdes
Sajor. As to how government is fulfilling the strategic
objectives of promoting non-violent forms of conflict
resolutions and of recognizing the role of women in
promoting a culture of peace especially at the community
level, Sajor laments that these have not happened, even
after the [Marcos] dictatorship. [46]

TRAFFICKING

Fifty percent of the 50,000 to 70,000
women trafficked each year throughout the world (mostly
from Southeast Asia), are Filipino. This statistic was
given by the National Commission on the Role of Filipino
Women, which led the Philippine delegation to the recently
concluded UN Special Session on Women in New York. [47]

Many women are victims of trafficking
for purposes of prostitution within their countries and
abroad. They are deceived by employment agencies that use
the promise of legitimate jobs but are instead made to
work as prostitutes, or through marriage bureaus that
collude with foreign males to arrange sham marriages, or
they never even get to marry and end up being forced into
prostitution.[48]

Although trafficking is usually seen as
an international trade, it is also a common internal
practice within the Philippines and other countries. When
bars, brothels, massage parlors and other prostitution
fronts are unable to fill their quota, they resort to
trafficking in women from rural areas to urban centers.

Some would say trafficked women are not
always naive victims and many willingly resort to being
trafficked as a survival strategy. Isis International
reminds us that, "trafficking is not only a survival
strategy of individual women. It is also that of
governments, both in the developing and developed world."
[49]

In 1999 the International Organisation
for Migration produced a half hour video of Maria Socorro
Paulin–Ballesteros’ play Sex Trafficking: We’re So
Syndicated, Ma’am. [50] Translated into five
Philippine regional languages and English, 50,000 copies
were reproduced for free distribution with funding from
the Belgian Administration for Development Cooperation.
The video can be used in training sessions with KALAYAAN’s
manual Community Action Against Sex Trafficking.
[51]

PROSTITUTION

Even while Philippine laws do not
define prostitution, prostitutes are criminals. Clients,
or men who avail of ‘sex’ from women in prostitution, are
not expressly penalised, but clients of child prostitutes
are. The following persons involved in prostitution are
penalised through the various Philippine criminal
provisions relating to the prostitution of women: (1)
prostitutes (except children); (2) pimps and procurers;
(3) those engaged in the business of prostitution; (4)
those profiting from the business; (5) those enlisting the
services of women and children in prostitution. [52]

SIBOL argues that, "Although adult
prostitutes are criminals under Philippine law, and
engaging in the business of prostitution is a crime,
prostitution is, in reality, de facto legal." Both the
Labor Code and local regulations such as the Sanitation
Code contain provisions pertaining to "certain" women
workers in night clubs, cocktail lounges, massage clinics,
sauna baths, bars etc. which indirectly recognise that
prostitution is part of the establishment’s business.
Thousands of so-called "streetwalkers" are imprisoned for
vagrancy. Those in bars and similar establishments are
rounded up in raids. Meanwhile the men who exploit women
in prostitution are largely left untouched. [53]

Cecilia Hofmann, from the Coalition
Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific, argues that,
"If the prostitution of women were to be regarded in the
same light as the prostitution of children, in other words
as abuse, harm and human rights violation, and further, as
discrimination against women as a group, then the same
legal treatment would not only be possible but necessary.
Abusers and profiteers would be legally liable while the
women would be considered as offended parties." [54]

Reports on the numbers of children in
prostitution depict the immense hardships that plague the
Filipino family.

Of the 1.5 million streetchildren,
60,000 are prostituted (ECPAT 1996). The DSWD
[Department of Social Work and Development] claims
that the annual average increase of prostituted
children is 3,266. The Philippines is the fourth
country with the most number of prostituted children
(Intersect, December 1995). Research studies conducted
in schools show that for every 3 Filipino children,
one child experiences abuse (Manila Bulletin, 11
February 1996). During the first semester of 1999
alone, there were 2,393 children who fell prey to
rape, attempted rape, incest, acts of lasciviousness
and prostitution (DSWD 1st semester, 1999).
[55]

SEX TOURISM

Fifteen Australian and New Zealander
women, including eight Filipinas, travelled to the
Philippines in 1995 to look at the experience of Filipino
women in prostitution, the role of Australian men, the
Australian government and the Australia-based sex trade
industry. A report of the study tour was published
including recommendations to the Australian and Philippine
governments. [56]

THE "LAY DOWN OR LAY OFF POLICY" IN THE
WORKPLACE

Many women workers are subjected to
sexual harassment or sexual violence in the workplace.
(Bureau of Women and Young Workers, Sexual Harassment
at the Workplace, 1991.) [57]

There is a phrase in the Philippines
that sums up the sexual violence experienced by women in
the workplace. We call it the "Lay Down or Lay Off
Policy".

Prior to the enactment of the
Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995 (RA 7877), women
resorted to the pertinent provisions of the Revised Penal
Code to seek redress for sexual harassment. SIBOL comments
that, "While Republic Act No. 7877 is a step forward in
addressing sexual harassment, it has several significant
limitations."[58]

NO DIVORCE

Gina Mission, an independent journalist
based in the Philippines, writing about the history of
divorce in the Philippines comments that, "Filipino
couples have only three ways to change the status of their
marriage: legal separation, declaration of nullity, and
annulment. Legal separation allows spouses to live
separately but they may not remarry. Declaration of
nullity presupposes that the marriage is void from the
beginning and the court declares its non-existence.
Annulment legally cancels the marriage and both spouses
are restored to their single status." [59]

Recounting the history of divorce in
the Philippines, Mission reminds us that divorce is
already legal for part of Filipino society; its Muslim
population [60], and some indigenous cultures also
practice divorce. Divorce is not a new concept in the
Philippines; in the pre-colonial period, absolute divorce
had been widely practiced among tribal communities. Under
the Spanish, legal separation was allowed. Under the
Americans, divorce was allowed only on the grounds of
adultery on the wife’s part and concubinage on the
husband’s. Under the Japanese, the grounds for divorce
were expanded. But, by 1950 the Civil Code of the
Philippines allowed only legal separation. The 1988 Family
Code further tightened the laws against divorce." [61]

SIBOL argues that even though the 1987
Constitution declares marriage to be "an inviolable social
institution," this does not prevent the legalisation of
divorce in the Philippines. Yet, it is invoked as the
basis for restricting the dissolution of marriage.
Furthermore, the article on "strengthening" the solidarity
of the family is invoked in domestic violence cases to
preserve marital unity. "This manner of application of the
State policies on marriage and the family is inconsistent
with the human rights and social justice provisions of the
Constitution." [62]

Media commentators are of the opinion
that a recent proposal to legalise divorce may not make it
through the House Committee on revision of law as
supporters have withdrawn due to pressure from the
Catholic Church and the approaching elections in 2001.
[63]

For a brief comparison of Australian
with Philippine law see "Divorce and Annulment in the
Philippines and Australia" by Michael Jones. [64]

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

SIBOL argues the necessity for domestic
violence legislation that covers psychological and
economic abuse as well as physical and sexual abuse.
Currently, there is no legislation that specifically
addresses and provides remedies for domestic violence as
an independent area of concern, although there are several
proposals pending in Congress. [65]

One proposal, Senate Bill No. 1458, in
its explanatory note gives statistics which indicate that
husbands and partners were the most common abusers of
women. These statistics were taken from various research
reports and client records of agencies assisting
victims/survivors.[66]

Currently, the only legislation that
specifically mentions domestic violence is the Family
Courts Act of 1997 (Republic Act No. 8369), which mandates
the creation of family courts to resolve domestic violence
cases and provide restraining orders. [67]

THE DOUBLE STANDARD IN MARITAL
INFIDELITY

Philippine law penalises a married
woman’s infidelity differently and more heavily than a
married man’s transgression.

An act of sexual intercourse by a
married woman with a man not her husband constitutes
the crime of adultery. On the other hand, a
man’s sexual infidelity with a woman not his wife is
not a crime, unless there is cohabitation (which
implies some degree of permanency) or the sexual
infidelity was committed under scandalous
circumstances; it is only then that the crime of
concubinage is committed. [68]

SIBOL argues that this legal double
standard is based on women’s child-bearing ability and
men’s claims of natural sexual needs or drive, which are
the same justifications used to maintain prostitution.
"Clearly, these laws discriminate against women and
violate their human and constitutional rights to
fundamental equality before the law." [69]

ABORTION

Abortion is illegal in the Philippines
and the provisions of the Revised Penal Code specific to
abortion have not been amended since enacted in 1930.
Abortion is widespread even though it is classified as a
crime against persons, along with infanticide, murder,
parricide and homicide. Many women die from unsafe
abortions. [70]

The 1987 Constitution provides that the
State "shall equally protect the life of the mother and
the unborn from conception." The only exception is
therapeutic abortion. Women’s groups mobilised against the
inclusion of this provision, but their efforts were
defeated by a strong church lobby. [71]

Most women who choose to undergo
induced abortion belong to the 20-24 age bracket. Fifty
five per cent are high-school graduates, 65 per cent are
homemakers and 92 per cent of those who have had an
abortion are Catholics. (Abortion: A Public Health
Concern, 1996.) [72]

The current laws on abortion may
not be repealed because of Article II, Section 12 of
the 1987 Constitution whose clear intent is to prevent
the legislature from decriminalizing or legalizing
abortion. Before the 1987 Constitution, there was no
constitutional impediment to the passage of a law
decriminalizing or legalizing abortion. [73]

SIBOL argues that abortion is a health
issue as well as a class based issue. Poor women do not
have the means, and thus, have no choice but to resort to
self-help methods, or untrained practitioners. [74]

Because of stiff legal and social
penalties, those who perform abortions rarely speak out.
"Shadows in the Abortion Debate" by Sharon Cabusao
contains interviews with two women who perform the
abortion procedure, one is an experienced midwife, the
other a traditional healer. [75]

PORNOGRAPHY

Pornography, per se, is not
expressly defined in Philippine criminal law
(statutory or judicial). Instead, various acts
that are considered to manifest obscenity or
indecency, are penalized as immoral doctrines,
obscene publications and exhibitions and indecent
shows under the Revised Penal Code. Republic Act
No. 7610, the special law on child abuse, exploitation
and discrimination, may also apply when children are
involved. [76]

Pornography is a contentious issue in
the women’s movement. On one side are those who see
pornography as "centrally implicated in women’s
oppression" and on the other are those who "seek to
appropriate erotic imagery for women". Civil libertarians
join the debate from an anti-censorship perspective. For a
brief discussion on the relationship between pornography
and sexual violence see ‘Defining Pornography’ by Leti
Boniol. [77]

INTRODUCTION AGENCIES

The Mail-Order Bride Law [Republic Act
No. 6955] penalises the practice of matching Filipino
women for marriage to foreign nationals on a mail-order
basis. SIBOL observes that when this law was enacted in
1990, advertisements for commercially-arranged marriages
disappeared but, in reality, the mail-order bride business
thrives underground because the law does not assign a
monitoring agency to ensure implementation. Also, marriage
matching via the Internet is beyond the reach of the law.
It is estimated that 1,000 to 2,000 Filipino women enlist
with mail-order agencies annually, with almost all
resulting in marriage. [78]

THE WORLD WIDE WEB OF EXPLOITATION

Shopping for women in cyberspace is one
of the means by which introduction agencies circumvent the
Mail-Order Bride Law. Cunneen and Stubbs discuss this
relatively new phenomenon in their book Gender, ‘Race’
and International Relations: Violence Against Filipino
Women in Australia[79] and in their
journal article, ‘Male violence, male fantasy and the
commodification of women through the Internet’. [80]

For a comprehensive examination of how
men are using the Internet to engage in and promote the
global sexual exploitation of women and children, see
Pimps and Predators on the Internet, by Donna M.
Hughes. [81]

Recent research commissioned by the
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates that
"between 100,000 and 150,000 women from a variety of
countries (including the U.S., Canada, Europe, and
Australia) annually advertise themselves as available for
marriage." The Philippines provides a large number of the
Asian listings with Thailand, China, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Korea, and Japan also often given as the woman's native
country. "In recent years, a large increase in listings
has been due to the influx of services focused on women of
Russia and the former Soviet Union" [82]

The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO),
an agency of the Philippine Government, reports that
so-called "mail-order brides" constitute 10% of the
marriages between Filipinos and foreign nationals. Between
1989-1994, 95,000 Filipino men and women were engaged to
be married to foreigners, the great majority of whom met
their partners through work or personal introductions.
(Catherine Paredes-Maceda 1995, ‘Data from Filipino women
and intermarriages’) [83]

We should bear in mind however that
this data compiled by CFO is supplied by the women
themselves and their fiances/husbands. As "mail-order"
marriage agencies are illegal in the Philippines, the
couples would most likely refrain from stating this as the
mode of their introduction.

The Internet is a powerful tool for
constructing a global image of women as "victim" or
"vamp". What would stop us from using it to break down the
culture of silence that has perpetuated the cycle of
violence against women?

THE RESPONSE

The Philippine House of Representatives
Committee on Women states:

The Philippine Congress is
presently at the crossroads in dealing with women’s
issues in legislation. The institution is gradually
evolving from espousing traditional and conventional
concepts and perspectives to adopting more realistic
and responsive approaches and strategies in
integrating women's concerns in the legislative
process. This trend in the reform of Philippine
statutes affecting women who constitute more than half
of the Philippine population is well-exemplified in
the enactment by the 10th Congress of the Anti-Rape
Bill after almost a decade of legislative
deliberations and advocacy by women NGOs. [84]

SIBOL observes that there are several
family planning programs available which appear to be
massive and well-funded and these should reach Filipino
women nationwide. Although programs to assist women
victims of violence are more numerous, they are
comparatively smaller in scope, with fewer services and
limited funding. [85]

There are two government agencies
actively engaged in the development of policy proposals on
women’s health whose efforts could expand the purview and
enhance the government’s appreciation of women’s health:
the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women and
the Commission on Population. [86]

SIBOL hopes that the general public is
now better informed after nearly a decade of NGO advocacy,
actions and accompanying media attention on the
prevalence, gravity, and the social cost of this form of
severe discrimination against women. Yet, the enormous
toll that violence in all its forms takes on women’s
health has not been thoroughly addressed by the health
sector. As no medical school in the Philippines includes
violence against women as a specific subject in the
curriculum, the medical community is not prepared to be
watchful for signs of violence and, much less, to
adequately and appropriately respond to the needs of women
who experience violence. [87]

Raquel Tiglao, executive director of
the Women’s Crisis Center is not too optimistic about the
Philippine government’s efforts to end violence against
women. Although she concedes that it has signed all the
declarations and conventions that pertain to women and is
fulfilling the objective of providing shelters and legal
services, she challenges its commitment to provide the
necessary funding, asserting that many feel that this is
just lip service. [88]

The University of the Philippines
Center for Women’s Studies in Breaking the Silence: the
Realities of Family Violence in the Philippines and
Recommendations for Change, a study conducted and
published by the UCWS and the U.N. Fund for Children says,
"It is essential to transcend traditional social-science
research methodologies to be able to explore various
dimensions of domestic violence through the eyes and
perspectives of women victims and survivors." The study
hinges its recommendations on the belief that actions
should be made "in view of the reality that the circle of
violence can only be broken through policies and
intervention strategies." [89]

SIBOL concludes:

The present state of laws, policies
and programs directly concerned with or related to
women’s reproductive health, sexuality, and violence
against women is a maze of both the "old" and the
"new". "Old" refers to the laws, policies and programs
that were instituted prior to the 1980s, a period
marked by the rise of a strong and visible women’s
movement that led, in turn, to the start of gender
mainstreaming efforts within government. These old
laws and policies reflect a perspective that rests on
the traditional and, thus, sexist construction of
women and their sexuality – as wives whose
child-bearing capacity must be "guarded", or as "good"
and "bad" women.

On the other hand, there are the
new laws, policies and programs that bring forward a
more progressive, pro-women point of view. These were
of more recent origin, emerging during the period of
increased recognition of women’s rights through the
advocacy of feminists and the women’s movement at both
the national and global levels. The new viewpoint on
women is more respectful of their rights as
individuals and responsive to their needs as citizens,
in their own right and in their various roles. [90]

Since the "old" and "new" carry a
fundamental conflict in orientation, their side by
side existence tends to project a confusing and
confused state concerning government’s position on
women’s rights in general and women’s health in
particular. They do not only send conflicting messages
to the public; they also make government agencies act
or decide in contradictory ways. This is especially
true in legal precepts on sexual abuse of women. …
Governmental action in the entire area of sexual
violations against women – rich with sexist
construction of women’s sexuality – has yet to improve
with the new legislative developments. [91]

However, one can positively view
the current situation as an indication of a slow
shifting of government’s lens away from gender
blindness and sex stereotyping. …The government is
party to all recent pro-women international documents
and has issued policy pronouncements and program plans
whose texts are in tune with some demands and advocacy
of the women’s movement. [92]

Another area for improving
performance concerns the legislature. At the time of
the research, there were many bills on women pending
in both the lower and upper chambers of the Philippine
Congress, such as on domestic violence, pornography,
and trafficking in women. Some of these bills have
been pending for years. … a landmark law on women may
take three to five years before it is finally passed
into law. The legislature has to make bills on women
part of its priority agenda, and seriously take into
account the inputs of advocates from the women’s
movement in enacting legislation for women. [93]

HURIDOCS: DOCUMENTING HUMAN RIGHTS
VIOLATIONS

Documenting human rights violations,
and studying developments and trends, is an important tool
in addressing violence. It can, however, be an
overwhelming task for small organisations. To address
this, the Geneva-based human rights organisation, HURIDOCS
International, has developed WinEvsys, a database program
to do this task that can be adapted for local needs and
customised for individual agencies and organizations who
do not have the resources to author their own
documentation system.

For quite some time, CPCA has been
documenting the reported incidents of the deaths and
disappearances of Filipino women and their children in
Australia. We are finding this task grows in complexity as
our information sources expand and as the number of cases
increase. The database developed by HURIDOCS could be the
solution to our need to record, retrieve and analyse this
data.

Over the past five years, the Coalition
against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific based in Manila,
Philippines has worked with HURIDOCS to adapt WinEvsys to
better reflect violations against women relevant to the
Asia-Pacific region. Consequently, WinEvsys is now a very
appropriate and helpful tool for women’s organisations,
particularly those addressing violence against women.

In recent months, a number of women in
Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne have been exploring the
idea of utilising WinEvsys in a range of Australian
organisations addressing violence against women. A member
of our Solidarity Philippines Australia Network is the
coordinator for Australia on the International Advisory
Council of HURIDOCS-Asia and is trained in using the
WinEvsys program.

If the work of your group has a need,
but not the resources for this kind of data collection or
if you have a project in mind that might benefit from
developing this sort of database, please get in touch with
CPCA-Brisbane so we can discuss the possibility of jointly
organising a HURIDOCS project in Brisbane. Contact: by email or write to CPCA-Brisbane,
84 Park Road, Woolloongabba Qld 4102.

FILIPINO WOMEN IN AUSTRALIA

In November 1996 the Institute of
Criminology (University of Sydney) released a report
commissioned by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission in response to community pressure for the
raising of public awareness of the vulnerability of
Filipino women to violence, which showed that Filipino
women living in Australia are almost six times
over-represented as victims of homicide. CPCA was
instrumental in the initial data collection that brought
this research about. In February 1998, a second edition of
the report was published as a book entitled Gender,
‘Race’ and International Relations: Violence Against
Filipino Women in Australia. [94]

Chat Garcia, who is currently based in
Manila working with the Association for Progressive
Communication Women's Networking Support Programme, in her
review of Cunneen and Stubbs’ book says it goes beyond
presenting the facts to trace the trends and the
intersection of race and gender in the cases they studied.
The authors cite previous studies on masculinity and
murder that identify homicide as a masculine offence, with
masculine power and control being central features in
spousal homicides. Garcia says, "Particularly enlightening
is the discussion on the role of masculinity and violence
in constructing a male fantasy of Filipino women." [95]

Data compilation on the deaths and
disappearances of Filipino women and their children in
Australia is an ongoing project of CPCA. Contact CPCA-Brisbane
Branch for more information and a summary of updated
statistics.

The Filipino community in Australia has
been outspoken in its response to violence against women
and maintains its communication with cause-oriented
organisations and networks in the Philippines. This year
alone, two gatherings took place on the issue of violence
against Filipino women in Australia. In February, a forum
including a panel of reactors from the Philippine
government and the Australian embassy was organised in
Manila by Kakammpi, Inc. in cooperation with CPCA and
SPAN. [96] For Domestic Violence Prevention Week in May, a
memorial mass was held in Acacia Ridge, Brisbane in
remembrance of the 32 Filipino women and children victims
of violence. About 300 people, including family and
friends of the women, attended the mass organised by CPCA
with the support of the Domestic Violence Resource Centre
and the Immigrant Women’s Support Service. [97]

The Women’s Rights Network has
published a preliminary report on their recent
international survey of service provision for "Intimate
Partner Sexual Abuse" (IPSA) which aims to gather a more
comprehensive culturally relevant global understanding of
IPSA including its link to other social issues. [98]

In an attempt to understand what
immigrants experience, the process itself has been
described as a series of stages. The decision to leave
home generates mixed feelings of anxiety, grief, loss,
relief and anticipation, followed by confusion and
excitement on arrival in the host country. The initial
adjustment period in the host country is marked by misery,
dealing with a sense of not belonging, and questioning of
the decision to migrate. A major turning point is reached
when the immigrant is successful in study or in seeking
employment and there is a renewed sense of hope and
belonging. This process has been modelled in the U Curve
of Adjustment.

As a model, the U Curve is only
indicative of what the immigrant may actually experience.
Refugees, for example, go through more traumatic
experiences than "normal" immigrants. Some may experience
a relatively smooth transition, while others meet more
difficulties. Still others may never adjust and "get
stuck" at the bottom of the curve. The extreme loneliness,
isolation, depression and alienation resulting from this
experience can trigger memories of past abuse. Service
providers and other personnel need to be aware and
sensitive to these stages. (A copy of The U curve of
Adjustment graphic is appended.)

According to the Australian 1981
Census, the sex ratio of Filipino women to Filipino males
was 186:100, almost double, no other migrant community’s
sex ratios even approaches that of the RP born (Jackson
1988). [99] A significant number of Filipino women in
Australia, around 70 percent, are married to non-Filipinos
(Masian, 1990:182) [100], and their resettlement
experience can be made more problematic in adjusting to a
cross-cultural relationship. In fact, they often
experience domestic violence, including sexual assault
within the relationship. Young women born in the
Philippines who immigrated with their mothers may be
subjected to incest by their stepfathers. [101] As with
other women of colour who become victims/survivors of
domestic violence and sexual assault, Filipino women often
have to deal with the racist attitudes of the perpetrators
and, in some cases, service providers such as the police.

There is a clear need for information
for immigrant women of a non-English cultural background
such as those from the Philippines, about their rights and
the laws relevant to sexual assault and domestic violence;
the range of behaviours that are abusive, violent and
criminal under the law; the existing services they can tap
into; and the structure and proceedings of the criminal
justice system.

It is not unreasonable to assume that
the women would have come from a close-knit family and
community which constituted their support system. In the
Australian context, this source of support does not
necessarily exist except in the form of community
services. It is also important to be mindful that there
are many factors which impinge on Filipino women’s values
and attitudes, including whether they were socialised in
an urban or rural setting, whether they are from the
middle or working class, the additional dimension of the
immigration and resettlement experience, and their
position in the social hierarchy of their adopted country.

The women need to know the range of
behaviours covered in the term "sexual assault", for
example. They have to be familiar with their rights as
Australian residents, as victims and as complainants in a
legal case. It would be useful if such information were to
be given as soon as practicable after arrival.

They have to be familiar with existing
agencies and contact numbers in a readily accessible form.
Announcements on community radio is an effective way of
disseminating information, as well as Filipino community
newsletters. These media, however, should be seen as
supplementary to face- to-face information giving.

The specific needs of women in isolated
and remote areas need to be highlighted and addressed.
Again, the situation of Filipino women in cross-cultural
relationships who are in these geographical areas is
exacerbated by cultural and language barriers. Finally,
smaller communities are more prone to ‘gossip’ in school,
on the streets and the shops. Incest, rape and other acts
of sexual violence are not talked about. This is a
powerful deterrent to reporting by victims or their
families, especially if they as women of colour feel that
they do not belong, are not "one of them", and perceive
racial discrimination.

In a previous discussion about older
women of non-English speaking background including
Filipino women who are victims/survivors of violence,
their reluctance to report their experience to authorities
was partly explained by a range of fears. They are afraid
of not being believed, being embarrassed, blamed and
ostracised by their community. Being in relatively
unfamiliar environment, the women would be afraid to face
economic insecurity. The threat of deportation and
retaliation by the perpetrators is very real for Filipino
women in cross-cultural relationships. Finally, there is
the fear of being victimised again in dealing with the
police and the legal system, particularly if they are not
too confident in their English skills.

These fears reflect the sense of
powerlessness common among immigrants who are marginalised
in their adopted community, and is mirrored in the
situation of Filipino women victims of sexual violence,
often, if not always, in the hands of Australian nationals
who are in their element and are more familiar with the
dominant culture. [102]

It should be highlighted that in terms
of powerlessness, research has shown that younger women
(15-29 years of age) and older women of a non-English
speaking background are even lower in the pecking order
within the family and, in terms of access to services, are
more "invisible" than other women of the same background.

Cultural issues and barriers to
accessing services for young women of non-English speaking
background and recommendations for addressing them, are
discussed in I Sometimes Want to Move Out… by M.
Theresa Gatbonton [103] and, Working with Diversity
by D. Hughes and T. Gatbonton [104].

Older women of non-English speaking
background and their issues are addressed in
‘Victim/survivors of violence: Responding to older women
of non-English speaking background’ by Cora Sta.
Ana-Gatbonton. [105]

As with any other victims/survivors of
sexual assault, Filipino women need to be empowered in
dealing with their situation and in seeking justice.
Empowerment can occur with being informed about their
rights and entitlements, and the legal and judicial
processes involved in fighting for these rights. Providing
the women with appropriate support is also empowering, for
example, assistance with specific needs (e.g. medical,
housing, income security); using qualified and specialist
interpreters; assistance of a court support officer; and
ensuring that staff dealing with them are trained in
providing culturally sensitive service.

For a fuller discussion of the barriers
faced by non-English speaking background women in
accessing the criminal justice system in Queensland, see
Women of Non-English Speaking Background within the
Criminal Justice System, Qld Department of Justice,
1997. [106]

The foregoing discussion has outlined
the cultural and immigration factors that may impinge on
the experience of Filipino women victims/survivors of
sexual violence. In responding to their needs, service
providers, policymakers and those in the area of program
development in the wide range of relevant service sectors
would not be fully equipped unless they are informed about
these factors. They also need skilling in the specialist
area of cross-cultural sensitivity and communication,
including the effective use of multilingual information
and interpreters. It is also important to emphasise the
need for employing accredited and professionally trained
interpreters in these sensitive situations. Women
understandably prefer women interpreters. There may be a
preference also for interpreters from outside their own
immediate community. In this situation, a telephone
interpreter from interstate may be more appropriate and
can be arranged through the Translation and Interpreter
Service in the State government. [107] As well, service
providers have to be prepared to deal with Filipino woman
who may need an interpreter in a Philippine language other
than Tagalog. In some of our languages, particular words
in one can have quite the opposite meaning in another.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In preparing this paper we sought
assistance and input from our network contacts and we
would like to thank:

SIBOL and the Women’s Legal Bureau,
Quezon City whose book, Women’s Health and the Law,
we quote from extensively;

Nicki Saroca for so generously sharing
her research materials;

Malou Añes and the Western Region
Centre Against Sexual Assault (West CASA), Melbourne for
sending copies of their booklet, Saan Ako Maaaring
Pumunta Kapag Ako Ay Sekswal Na Inabuso? (Where Can I
Go When I am Sexually Abused?) [108], for you to take with
you today; and

Emere Distor and Della Ipong for their
comments;

The Sistren for speaking out and
breaking the silence; and

The Men who "hold up the other half of
the sky" and walk beside us without getting in our way.

[13] Maria Clara is the heroine in
Rizal’s classic Philippine novel Noli Me Tangere
(Touch Me Not). Jose Rizal was martyred by the Spanish
colonial government for his revolutionary writings.
Noli Me Tangere and his other novel, El
Filibusterismo, written in Spanish, were instrumental
in raising the consciousness of Filipino intellectuals who
were mostly educated in Europe and who provided the
intellectual leadership for the Philippine revolution
against Spain.

[23] The Family Code of the
Philippines, Executive Order No. 209, July 6, 1987
(Republic of The Philippines). The full text of EO 209 can
be viewed on the Chan Robles Virtual Law Library web site
at http://www.chanrobles.com

[45] Ferdinand Marcos was re-elected as
President in November 1969 supposedly to serve for another
four years. Marcos, however, declared martial law in 1971
and remained in power until his expulsion on February 25,
1986.

[60] 1977 Presidential Decree No. 1083,
otherwise known as the Code of Muslim Personal Laws,
permits divorce in marriages where both spouses are
Muslims or where only the male is Muslim but the marriage
was solemnized in accordance with Muslim Law. For an
outline of Muslim law as applied in the Philippines, see
Islamic Family Law, Emory University School of Law.

[104] D. Hughes and T. Gatbonton,
Working with Diversity: A Study of Access to Services of
Young People of Non-English Speaking Background,
Migrant Women’s Emergency Support Service, Brisbane,
Australia, 1994.

Committee on Women of the House of Representatives,
Philippines, Samahan ng Kababaihan sa Kongreso ng
Pilipinas (SKKP). Downloaded from the SKKP web site home
page at http://www.philwomen.net/house/index.html on
28/10/2000.

Hughes, D. and Gatbonton, T.,
Working with Diversity: A Study of Access to Services of
Young People of Non-English Speaking Background,
Migrant Women’s Emergency Support Service, Brisbane,
Australia, 1994.

Roco, Senator Raul S., Explanatory Note accompanying
SBN 1458 "An Act defining the crime of abuse of Women in
intimate relationship, prescribing penalties therefor,
providing for the protective measures for victims, and for
the other purposes", introduced by Sen. R.S. Roco
02/04/99. Status: pending in the Philippine Senate
Committee on Youth, Women and Family Relations. Downloaded
from the Senate of the Philippines, Committee on Youth,
Women, and Family Relations web site at
http://www.philwomen.net/senate/news/1999/sb-1458.htm on
2/11/2000.

‘Women work to end armed conflict’, PBSB Bulletin,
October 1999, Philippine NGO Beijing Score Board.
Downloaded from http://www.philwomen.net/pbsb/bulletin/2nd-issue/armed.htm
on 28/10/2000.

FURTHER READING

Tarr, Chou Meng, The position of women in the lowland
Philippines up to 1940, unpublished working paper for the
"Women in Asia" Conference June 13-15, 1981, University of
New South Wales, Australia, 1981.

De Stoop, Chris, They Are So Sweet, Sir: The Cruel
World of Traffickers in Filipinas and Other Women,
trans. François & Louise Hubert, Limitless Asia, Belgium,
1994. ISBN 971-91396-0-9

Law, Lisa, ‘A matter of "choice": Discourses on
prostitution in the Philippines’, Sites of Desire
Economies of Pleasure, Sexualities in Asia and the Pacific,
University of Chicago Press, USA, 1997, pp. 233-261.

Roces, Mina, ‘Kapit sa patalim (Hold on to the blade):
Victim and agency in the oral narratives of Filipino women
married to Australian men in Central Queensland’, Lila:
Asia-Pacific Women’s Studies Journal, Vol. 7, 1998,
Institute of Women’s Studies, St. Scholastica’s College,
Manila, Philippines, pp. 1-19.

‘The Philippines’, International Women’s Rights Action
Watch Country report presented at the United Nations
Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) January 1997, IWRAW,
University of Minnesota, U.S.A. Downloaded from
http://www.igc.org/iwraw/publications/countries/philippines.html
on 3/11/2000.